


Bobber

by yeaka



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21575680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Noctis doesn’t get to fish.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 70





	Bobber

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy XV or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Noctis puts up with a lot of shit from Gladiolus. Brutal training sessions, being woken up before dawn, having his best friend hit on—a plethora of things that drive him crazy, but then, every once in a while, Gladiolus will offer to drive him out of the city, and all is forgiven. If Noctis has his shield with him, he’s allowed to visit the small ponds just outside walls. They’re usually quiet, empty, _peaceful_ , and Noctis doesn’t have to worry about being the prince for at least that short trip. He gets to just enjoy his hobby, which is worth the limp in his left leg from Gladiolus tossing him against a pillar when he was too tired to warp away.

Gladiolus stays in the car, sprawled out in the backseat with a book. He’ll come if Noctis calls him—if anything interesting pops up, like a particularly enormous fish or a monster—but mostly, Gladiolus isn’t interested. Which suits Noctis just fine. He could use a break from everything, everyone. He wanders down to the water’s edge and plucks his rod from his armiger. 

The pond is an almost opaque green-blue, glimmering in the early sun. The surface is dead still. The reeds trail right into it, mossy rocks lining the edge, and Noctis finds a flat surface to hunker down on. He opens his box of lures and ponders which one he wants to use. 

Before he has a chance to collect one, the water ripples. The movement catches Noctis’ eye, and he watches a long, slick set of purple scales breach the surface, just skimming the top. By the time it disappears again, Noctis’ eyes are wide, breath hitched, because it went on for nearly the length of his whole legs. That fish must be _huge._ And he’s never seen one with that gorgeous colouring: giant _and_ rare. It’s his lucky day.

He hurriedly reaches for the lures, but his fingers don’t connect—someone bursts out of the water and startles Noctis back. He almost screams out of sheer surprise but catches himself just in time before altering Gladiolus. The figure that emerges is only a young man, maybe a year or two older than Noctis. His complexion’s pale, his face Lucian, with soft, ash-brown hair slicked down around his handsome face. His body is lean but chiseled, taut with the promise of muscle as his arms waft out about him, keeping him afloat. He’s shirtless, naked from what Noctis can see, though the water cuts him off just below his rosy nipples, which is still enough for Noctis to understand how beautiful he is. The man is _stunning_. For those first few seconds, Noctis can’t do anything but stare. 

Then he sees the translucent lilac fins surfacing behind the man, and Noctis’ brain spirals into fantasies that can’t be true. The maybe-merman informs him in a cool, elegantly accented voice, “Please don’t disturb my pond.” Noctis blinks, too dazed to answer. The man seems to judge his silence, then goes on, “Most of the fish have already died off here due to humans fishing, and I’ve seen one too many species wiped out entirely. I’d thank you to put your rod away.”

Noctis weakly repeats, “Human fishing? ... _Your_ pond...?”

The man nods, then slowly reclines, leaning backwards. It brings more of his lithe body to the surface, and Noctis eyes the expanse of creamy white skin swooping down his stomach, his hips rising just enough to see where the skin tapers off into purple scales. The sharp juts of his hips transition so smoothly into the serpentine tail below. Noctis swallows. Then the merman straightens out again, which is a shame, because Noctis desperately wants another look, a proper one—he wishes he were suave enough to coax the creature onto land so he could examine every flawless detail. The pond’s too murky to see as much as he wants. The merman adds, “I’m also not fond of getting hooks caught in my tail.”

“I’m... I’m sorry,” Noctis splutters, because he was absolutely about to fish, even though he would’ve been devastated if he’d hurt another human. Or even a half-human. He promises, “I won’t fish here.”

The man nods. “Thank you.” 

Then, just like that, he wades backwards, turning, maybe about to swim away, except Noctis can’t have that.

He blurts, “Wait!” like an idiot.

The man pauses. Noctis somehow manages, “Uh... what’s your name?”

The man quirks a brow. He counters, “Yours?”

“Noctis. But... you can call me Noct.”

The man pauses, quietly considering, deep eyes sweeping slowly down Noctis’ body. Noctis subtly tries to puff himself out and really wishes he’d actually bothered to brush his hair in the morning. For once, he even wishes he were wearing his royal garb, because it’d be a lot more impressive than his casual t-shirt. 

But he must look good enough, because the merman provides, “Ignis.”

“Ignis,” Noctis breathes. It sounds graceful and exotic, just like the man before him. Ignis moves back again, but Noctis quickly asks, “Could we, uh... talk? Or... something?”

Ignis stares at him. Then a thin smile stretches across Ignis’ bow lips, a charming look that makes Noctis’ heart skip a beat. “Perhaps next time,” he allows. “Provided you come in peace and without your fishing gear.”

Noctis nods in promise. He wouldn’t dare. He fumbles for more things to say, something interesting, anything, but it’s too late—Ignis slips beneath the surface, leaving no trace behind. 

Noctis stares for a good while longer anyway, hoping he’ll come back, but he doesn’t. Noctis doesn’t leave until Gladiolus lumbers down to get him, and then Noctis insists they come back tomorrow.


End file.
